Detection of compromised programs and malware has been a concern throughout the era of computers. With the growth of communication networks such as the Internet and the increasing amount of data interchange as well as the recent growth of cloud computing, the infection of computers and servers through communications or file exchanges is an increasingly significant concern. Infections of computers and servers can take various forms but are typically related to computer viruses, Internet or other network worms, Trojan programs, and other forms of malicious code.
The infection of computers by malicious code is a significant concern in cloud computing. Cloud computing refers to a computing environment for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing resources. Many cloud computing services involve virtualized resources, and software associated with managing virtualized resources may be a desirable target of malware. Programs such as a virtual machine monitor (VMM) are an important software layer in cloud computing host servers and therefore may be a desirable target for malware and code modification by online attackers attempting to acquire, control, and manipulate guest virtual machines or launch fraudulent virtual machines. Potential customers may be reluctant to utilize cloud services because of the risks associated with such compromised software. Additional solutions are needed to make cloud hosting software, and in particular its important components such as the VMM, more secure from malware and code modifications.